Overview

Nova-Suite is an open-source IT service management platform spanning incident response, configuration, change, and service-level workflows. It is a strong fit for teams that can operate their own infrastructure and want those functions without per-agent charges; teams seeking vendor-led support should weigh the commercial option.

Key features

The employee service catalogue brings request submission, status checks, and knowledge articles together. Its contextual assistant can recommend articles, create incidents, and autofill forms for both employees and fulfillers, which can reduce routine intake work. Teams should still account for the operational work of a self-hosted deployment.

Incident workflows cover classification, prioritization, routing, and escalation policies, with real-time SLA breach predictions. That combination helps teams connect intake to response and service commitments. Dashboards and workload views give teams operational visibility; CSV export and API access support further analysis in BI tools.

The CMDB supports configurable CI classes, attributes, relationships, and impact visibility, while change management includes CAB approvals and planning windows. Approval workflows, change audit trails, and CMDB linking add useful control around planned changes. This is more compelling for teams managing dependencies and change governance than for those needing only a basic request portal.

REST API access is documented with Swagger, and scheduled data-source imports support integration into existing environments. Deployment can be on user infrastructure with Docker or Kubernetes, or managed cloud. Security controls include PostgreSQL Row-Level Security for tenant boundaries, role controls, and audit logs; authentication supports local accounts and OIDC single sign-on, including Google and Microsoft Entra ID. The company says the product complies with Switzerland’s nFADP/nDSG and uses no cookies, tracking pixels, or third-party analytics.

Pricing

Plan	Price	What it includes	Best fit
Standard	0.00 USD per free; billed Free forever	Self-hosted full feature set, unlimited agents, Employee Portal, incident and problem management, knowledge base, change management, CMDB, REST API, SSO (Google / Entra ID), and community support	Teams prepared to run the platform themselves and comfortable with community support
Commercial	Custom pricing	Private-source licensing terms, deployment guidance, priority support options, and roadmap and integration discussions	Organizations needing private modifications or a more direct support relationship

Standard is unusually broad for a free plan: it includes the full feature set and has no agent cap. Its trade-off is self-hosting and community support. Commercial adds licensing and support options, but its custom pricing means teams must discuss terms directly.

Platforms

Nova-Suite is available through an API, as self-hosted software, and on the web. Self-hosted deployment supports Docker or Kubernetes; managed cloud is also an option.

Who it's for

Small IT teams and larger rollouts can consider Nova-Suite when they want incident, SLA, CMDB, and change workflows in one system and have the capacity to manage deployment. Its API, scheduled imports, and configurable service data are useful where the platform must fit an existing stack. Teams that need priority support or private-source licensing should expect a commercial conversation; teams that do not want deployment responsibility may prefer a hosted-first alternative.

Pros and cons

Pros: The free Standard plan includes unlimited agents and the full feature set, avoiding per-agent charges.
Pros: Incident, SLA, CMDB, and change controls are connected, including impact visibility, CAB approvals, and change audit trails.
Pros: REST API access, Swagger documentation, scheduled imports, and Docker or Kubernetes deployment offer options for fitting the platform into an existing stack.
Cons: Standard is self-hosted and provides community support, so teams must handle operating the platform and should not expect priority support on that plan.
Cons: Private-source licensing and priority support are part of the custom-priced Commercial plan, so those requirements do not have a published fixed cost.

Alternatives

iTop is another free option, with a Community plan described as unlimited and support for API, self-hosted, and web use; consider it if those deployment options and its free community offer better fit your needs.

iTop is worth comparing if you want an on-premise community offer and operational service management through its Atelier plan.

Vivantio is a paid alternative at 49.00 USD per month, with a published range of $49–$99 per agent per month billed annually and free end users; choose it if a paid, per-agent model with all features included suits your budget and procurement approach.

FreeITSM is another free option for teams comparing self-hosted service management platforms.

GLPI offers a free plan and a Public Cloud plan at 19.00 EUR per month per IT agent, from one billed agent; consider it if a paid public-cloud option is preferable to operating Nova-Suite yourself.

Hornbill IT Asset Management offers personalized pricing tailored to requirements and scalable packages.

OTOBO has an Entry plan at 3900.00 EUR per year, with unlimited concurrent agents, two support accounts, unlimited incidents, ten service requests, and one production system; compare it if those terms match your support and service-request needs.

ChangeGear is another paid option for teams comparing IT change management platforms.

Verdict

Choose Nova-Suite if you need connected incident, SLA, configuration, and change management, can run the deployment, and value a full-featured free plan without agent limits. Its strongest reason to choose is that breadth at no charge; its clearest reason to look elsewhere is the self-hosting and community-support trade-off, especially if your team needs priority assistance or private-source licensing.

	Nova-Suite	OpenText Service Management
Free plan	Yes	No
Free trial	No	No
Paid from	Free	—
Open source	No	No
Platforms	api, self-hosted, Web	Android, iOS, Web
Free plan	Yes	No

Nova-Suite vs OpenText Service Management

Nova-Suite

OpenText Service Management